Fai d. Flourite
Fai D. Flourite (ファイ・D・フローライト, Fai D. Furōraito) is a character in the manga Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle by acclaimed manga artist group Clamp. In the anime adaptation of the manga he is voiced by Daisuke Namikawa in Japanese and Vic Mignogna in English. He is one of the two original main characters in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, not having coming from any previous Clamp work, the other being Kurogane. Naming The romanization of his name has been expressed as Fai D. Fluorite, but in the character guide published by Clamp, the name is represented as Fay D. Flourite, although this represents an error in spelling on Clamp's part because it is stated in the manga that his first name is Fai (even though he's really Yui, with his brother's name). His name is pronounced by rhyming Fay with 'eye'. The Del Rey editions of the series began release in English before the proper romanization was published, however, resulting in the widespread use of the "Fai D. Flowright" rendering among many English-speaking fans. Appearance During his first appearances, Fai was wearing a fur-lined robe and white clothes with a blue trim. Since then, he has adopted a more formal-style dress, consisting of a white button-up, black vest, and a red tie. He has blue eyes and blonde hair parted on the left side. Personality Of Syaoran's group of allies, Fai is the most enigmatic. He appears to be happy-go-lucky and good-natured, and acts very carefree. He often teases Kurogane, calling the latter ridiculous nicknames. However, Fai has been shown to be as perceptive and skilled a fighter as Kurogane. He also appears to carry a deep emotional burden, and values his own life very little. In battle, Fai doesn't bother to fight very hard for his life, and will only do so if someone he cares for is in danger. Though he hides his unhappiness well, Kurogane is able to sense the disguise. When he confronts him about it, Fai usually gives very dark and enigmatic answers. His past is a profound motivating factor for his actions and is something Fai cannot seem to overcome; instead he masks it all with a smile. Fai is emotionally distant, refusing to allow anyone to become too close to him. Despite this, Kurogane has noted that the mage has become attached to Syaoran and Sakura. Fai's behavior changes significantly after he becomes a vampire and is forced to regularly drink Kurogane's blood to survive. Fai becomes much colder and very solemn around everyone, and begins addressing Kurogane by his real name. However, after the events in Celes, Fai seems to have gone back to the way he was at the beginning of the series, as he once again addresses Kurogane with strange nicknames, and he seems to give a real smile. Fai worries about his companions and would go as far as breaking his own personal vows to ensure their safety. Kurogane confronts Fai about this, and states that Fai should figure out what he's doing with his present and future, because his past has nothing to do with either Kurogane or their younger companions. History ]When Fai's past is finally revealed, as his real name is Yui. It is shown that "Yui" was born in Valeria Country,with a twin named Fai. Though the birth of the second prince's son was highly anticipated, the birth of twins was considered to be a bad omen. Shortly after their birth, the second prince died, and their mother committed suicide out of guilt for giving birth to them. In addition, the country suffered many misfortunes, and the twins, when combined, more powerful magic that rivaled that of the current king. The king decided that making them unhappy was the only way to break the "curse", and since both refused to kill each other, they were locked up separately in a place where magic is ineffective and time does not flow: a tower residing in a deep valley; Fai was imprisoned atop the tower, and Yuui was confined at the base of the tower. Both were condemned to stay there "until the world's destruction." Despite their unhappiness, the number of bodies dumped into the base of the tower began to grow. Yui tried endlessly to climb up towards Fai, so they could escape, but he did not succeed. Eventually, the king became insane, and he executed every person in the country, except for Yui and Fai. He then jumped into the valley himself and committing suicide in front of a horrified Yui, reminding him that their birth was the reason for the country's misfortune, and that they would now "pay for that sin" by being the only people alive in Valeria. Eventually, Fei Wong Reed appeared from another world, and offered to free one of them. Fai chose to save Yui, resulting in Fai being thrown from the tower to his death. Fei Wong then tampered with Yui's memory to make him think that Yui had chosen to save himself at the cost of his brother's life, allowing Fei Wong to use Yui's guilt in order to turn him into his servant. In order to bring his twin back to life, Yui allowed Fei Wong to bestow two curses upon him, one of which was removed from Yui's memory. Fei Wong then told Yui that someone would free him from the valley, and that he would have to go on a journey, protecting "a princess" (Sakura), and killing any obstacles along the way. Fei Wong then tells Yui that when he finds a magical feather, he should put it into Fai's body to prevent it from rotting, and that he should begin his journey when he finds a second feather, which he should give to Sakura. Later, King Ashura came to Valeria from another world in order to retrieve Yui and took him to Celes. When Ashura asked what Yui's name was, Yui said it was "Fai". Ashura later gave Fai the last name "Flourite", the name of a precious talisman mineral, and he eventually earned the title 'D', given to the highest magician in Celes. And thus, Yui became the protagonist "Fai D. Flourite". He found his two feathers while helping villagers during an avalanche, and decided to use one to create a person in his mother's image; Chii. Ashura eventually tutored Fai in magic and comforted him whenever he felt unable to overcome his dark past. When Fai discovered that he could only learn "magic that kills people", Ashura told him that his smile held the ability to heal others. In exchange for everything that he had done for him, Ashura asked Fai to promise that he would eliminate anyone who threatened Celes. Due to Fai's first curse, Ashura traced a magical seal on Fai's body in the form of a Phoenix tattoo, which suppressed his powers from growing any further, and though Fai protested, Ashura told him that Fai's first curse would break after it was fulfilled once, and he wanted to be the one that Fai would kill. Ashura then erased what he had told him from Fai's memory. Several years later, a mysterious and deadly monster began to kill Celes's innocent civilians. Fai swore to defeat the beast, but found out that Ashura was the monster. Fai, at first, blamed himself for what happened to Ashura, thinking that "the curse of the twins" was what had caused Ashura to kill, but Ashura told him that his magic grows when he kills, and that he always knew that he would become a murderer, even though he was not sure why. Fai realized that Ashura had brought him under his care for the sole purpose of killing him when he reached this state. Unable to bring himself to kill Ashura, Fai cast a spell on him, putting him into a deep sleep. However, no magic spell was permanent, so the king would eventually awaken. In order to avoid having to face Ashura when he woke, Fai used his magic to teleport himself to the Dimensional Witch, where he began his journey. Storyline At the beginning of the series, Fai vows that he would not use his magic again without the tattoo on his back, but breaks the vow when he creates a shield in Rekord Country around the group in order to save them. In the Tokyo arc, he again uses his magic to try and reseal, in vain, the living heart of Clone Syaoran. The clone then proceeds to eat Fai's left eye, which contained half of Fai's magic, saying he needed Fai's powers in order to get Sakura's feathers for himself. Brought to the brink of death from the shock of losing one eye, Fai resists attempts to save himself, reasoning that the clone would be unstoppable with his powers, but that the magic would perish if Fai dies. Fai's request to die is ignored by Kurogane, who saves him by following Yūko's advice. Fai is then fed Kamui's blood and turns into a vampire, one with accelerated healing abilities but who needs to consume blood to survive. Because it is Kurogane's wish and not Fai's that he should live, Kurogane from then on has to take responsibility for Fai's life: the blood Fai received was mixed with Kurogane's blood, so that Fai can only feed from him. Fai now has to drink Kurogane's blood on a regular basis in order to survive; he literally needs to depend on the ninja to live. After these events, Fai stops addressing Kurogane by silly nicknames and begins to use his full name in order to distance himself. Fai confesses to Yūko that he had not realized how close the two of them have become, and that, if he forgives him for saving his life, they would be even closer. Fai's outward behavior becomes much colder in the following volumes. He drops his joking and happy-go-lucky demeanor, and smiles less. His interactions with the rest of the group becomes very distant and formal. The exception to this is Sakura, whose behavior (at the time) is as dark as his. Fai grows close to her in their mutual suffering and pledges loyalty to the princess. When Sakura informs him of her wish, he promises to help her without informing the others and without asking for more details. At the end of the tournament in the Infinity arc, it is revealed that Fai had a curse placed on him: he would kill anyone with magical abilities that surpassed his own. Seemingly possessed, Fai stabs Sakura after she receives two additional feathers; one from Chii, and another from a robot resembling Freya from Chobits. Yūko states that the additional feathers increased Sakura's magic, thereby surpassing Fai's halved magic. Sakura foresaw this in a vision, however, and made a wish to Yūko to prevent herself from dying: her body is taken to Celes and her soul to a dream world. It is later revealed that Fai has lied to the group on several occasions. He lied about the whereabouts of two of the feathers; the first one, which he seemingly removed from Syaoran's clothing in Volume 1, was actually with him from Celes. The other one was the one he had used to make Chii, which he pretended to know nothing about. After this revelation, he resolves to return to Celes in order to save Sakura's body, but a price had to be paid for the four of them to go to a specific country. Fai offers up everything that could be seen with his right eye in order to return to Celes, meaning that he would go blind. To prevent this, everyone agrees to offer up a fourth of the price by handing over their tournament money. Fei Wong Reed, who is secretly watching the group, then states that Fai was supposed to have stabbed Syaoran after the latter regains his original powers, but Sakura foresaw this and created a situation to activate Fai's curse before that happened. He also reveals that, even though Fai's first curse is now broken, he has yet another curse which only works in Celes. Later, after entering Celes country, Ashura uses his magic to show Syaoran, Kurogane, and Mokona visions of Fai's tragic past. This causes Kurogane to unsheathe his sword and attack Ashura and Fai. Though Fai is horrified that his comrades now know the extent of his secrets and betrayal, he decides to fight back with magic to protect Ashura, and also due to his vow not to die before he saves his brother. The two engage in a fierce battle, and in the mayhem, Kurogane damages the body of Fai's twin, and in that moment of weakness, manages to overpower Fai. Kurogane then demands Ashura to tell him why he showed them Fai's memories, and he responds by saying that he only wanted Fai to "grant his wish" and kill him. Ashura then launches vicious spells against Fai's comrades in order to force his hand, which causes one of the massive ice stalagmites that he conjured to pierce Kurogane in his right side. Angry, Fai attacks Ashura, retrieves Sakura's body, and places her with Syaoran for protection. Fai then decides to kill Ashura for the sake of both their wishes, but Fai's lack of a will to live and the loss of his eye prevents him from fighting at full strength. Ashura overpowers him, and tries to kill Syaoran and Sakura in order to draw out his true power. However, Kurogane intercepts the attack and stabs Ashura with his sword, killing the king. The feather in Fai's brother's body then shows Fai the true reason for his death. It returns to Sakura's body and the corpse disintegrates, finally at rest. Just when Mokona begins to transport the group to the next world, Fai's second curse activates, which causes Fai's magic to create a form of cage, trapping the group in Celes. Fai then declares that his magic does not get stronger the more he uses it -- in fact, the more he uses magic, the closer he is to death. With everyone unable to transport to another world, Fai attempts to use the last of his magic to transport his comrades, intending to sacrifice himself in order to save them. However, due to his halved magic, Fai is only able to transport Sakura, Syaoran, and Mokona. Using a magic earring Mokona wears, Syaoran creates a hole in the sphere where Fai and Kurogane are trapped, but Fai's curse uses him as the spell's anchor, meaning Fai cannot leave. Since Fai had used up all his magic in evacuating the others, Kurogane cuts off his own left arm, which Fai casted magic on earlier, and leaves it behind in the sphere in exchange for Fai. In Japan, the next world (and Kurogane's world), Fai punches Kurogane, smiles, and playfully tells him that it was for revenge while addressing him as "Kuro-sama," which shows that Fai is willing to call Kurogane nicknames again, reinvigorating their relationship. Fai then trades his remaining magic to Yūko in exchange for a false arm for Kurogane, and because he lives off of Kurogane's blood, Fai does not lose sight or die from offering up the last of his magic, only to regain his lost eye soon thereafter, thus allowing him to use his magic to its full potential. Later, when Sakura is killed during the two Syaoran's battle, he reveals that he knew Sakura was a clone all along. He then offers to go with Syaoran and Kurogane to save both Sakuras. That night, Fai goes to meet Syaoran, who was sitting on the roof, and tells him that he should rest. There, Syaoran thanks Fai for taking care of and supporting Sakura. When leaving Japan, Fai is seen in the clothes he wore at the beginning of the series. In chapter 183, the group finally enters Clow Country, where they end up repeating the same day over and over again due to a spell. During one of the days, Fai finds out that Kurogane's new arm is causing him pain, leading Fai to punch and scold Kurogane for not informing him. Their relationship returns to normal after this, even though Fai promised he wouldn't get close to him again. Trivia *Fai's Kudan is based off Windam, on of the Three Mashin from Magic Knight Rayearth * Syoran, Kurogane and Fai appear in episode 20 of Kobato. Since Sakura is not with them, and taking into account the clothes they are wearing, Syaoran is still on his journey to find a way to restore his parents' bodies. As they met Ioryogi, he and Mokona note the similarity between his voice and Kurogane's (a pun of the fact that they share the same seiyuu) and started teasing both by saying that the little plushie animal was Kobato's world's Kurogane. They help Kobato on getting miney to celebrate St. Valentine day on the Kindergarden, se he and Kurogane get an unknown work, where they were confused with cosplayers. In the end, they had to go to the next world, Fai then tell Ioryogi about his and Kobato's true nature, and that only she can fulfill the mission she has. * Fay and Kurogane is the popular Clamp's yaoi couples, followed by Seishiro and Subaru * In early episodes, Fai stated he cannot whistle, yet in episode 42, he whistles after he throws his hat into the sea, burning it.